"Did he notice?" King Frostpire Dracos narrowed his eyes, the cold, frigid wind of Frostpire causing his hair to flutter. He stood on the roof of the coliseum, watching the Light Dragon Monarch slowly blend into the crowd. King Dracos observed as the crowd parted in two, allowing the Dragon Monarch to walk unobstructed. He ignored the frightened expressions of the other dragons, who were clearly overwhelmed by his presence. With a deep frown, Dracos whispered to himself. "I had already foreseen this." He sighed, his misty breath forming circles in the air. "The others might not pay much attention, but him... he's always been different. Since we were kids, he kept poking his nose into matters that didn't concern him." King Dracos continued watching the crowd below for a while, but soon, the Light Dragon disappeared among the masses. There were over a million dragons present in Frostpire at this moment. Even with his keen gaze, no matter how hard he looked, he failed to spot the Light Monarch. "No matter what, I'll make sure he never finds out the truth." King Dracos clenched his fist, his eyes burning with conviction. "If things go stale here, not only will that kid lose his life, but the others will gang up and attack Frostpire." Dracos was confident in his strength, but even he didn't see himself lasting a minute against seven Dragon Monarchs and their armies. After all, he was just one man. --- After the encounter with Dracos, the group returned to the castle. After resting for an hour, everyone was called by Drake to the special training ground located below the castle. "Yawn, why the sudden meeting?" Fenix asked, half-asleep. "The reason I called everyone here is for an important discussion," Drake said. "Since we've now qualified for the next round, I think it's high time you know about our potential competitors." Everyone paid close attention. "As we all know, two teams have made it to the next round—us and the Fire Kingdom," Drake said, hands behind his back, his expression serious as he paced around the training ground. "The remaining matches are Earth vs. Lightning and Shadow vs. Light." All the kingdoms mentioned in this round were far from weak. The others shifted uncomfortably, wondering how they would have fared if they had been pitted against any of these teams. Though there was no official ranking of strength, it was common knowledge that the Wind Dragon Kingdom—the team they had faced—was considered the second weakest, just ahead of the Water Kingdom. Most of the citizens, despite being impressed by Nox's display, believed that the reason he had overwhelmed the Wind team was because of this fact. They were confident that if the Frostpire team were pitted against the other kingdoms, especially the big four, the chances of the same outcome repeating were slim. In fact, they believed that even if the Frostpire team somehow miraculously secured a win, they wouldn't escape unscathed—it would likely come at the cost of many teammates being eliminated. Drake let his words sink in for a moment, allowing his teammates to ponder over the implications before speaking again. "Who do you guys think will be eliminated in this next round?" It was a question that had been on the minds of the millions of dragons who had come to watch the Competition of Kingdoms. Barely a few seconds later, Kasiy spoke, a grim expression on her face. "The Earth Dragons." The others nodded. Though the Earth Dragons were powerful, if Nox had not appeared, their strength would have been comparable to the Ice Dragons. No one dared to believe they would be a match for the formidable Lightning Dragons, who had the highest win rate since the inception of the Competition of Kingdoms. Even though the Lightning Dragons hadn't won the competition in recent years, no one doubted their strength. In fact, it was commonly believed that among the big four, the Lightning and Light Dragons were the most likely to win this year's competition. "But..." Zara furrowed her brows slightly. "As for the Light and Shadow Dragons, it's hard to predict who will win." "Yes, that one is certainly difficult to call," Drake nodded. The Light Dragons hadn't participated in the competition for decades. There was a common belief in the dragon realm that they had given up their titles because they considered themselves above the competition. Another popular belief was that if the Light Dragons had continued to participate, they would have amassed the most titles, far surpassing the Lightning Dragons. A majority of dragonfolk believed this. After hearing tales of their insane title run, a part of Drake believed it too. However, despite this, he couldn't rule out the Shadow Kingdom just yet. After all, they had held the title eighteen times, placing them among the top three. Furthermore, unlike their counterparts, the Shadow Dragons had never taken a break from the competition, meaning they were well-prepared. Another reason Drake felt the Light Dragons could lose was that they had likely become rusty after staying away from the competition for so long. The competition wasn't just about resources; it was also something the younger generations looked forward to, motivating them to train. Certainly, the Shadow Dragons hadn't slacked off. As for the Light Dragons, whether they had trained or not was unknown. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 But even if they had, he doubted they had given it their all. After all, without something to look forward to, what was the incentive? Moreover, there was someone else. "Let's not forget about Nyxirith Nocturna," Drake said, a dark expression appearing on his face. The atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy. Everyone seemed to know who Nyxirith was—everyone except Nox, who couldn't help but ask, "Who is she?" "She is the daughter of the Shadow Dragon Monarch, Krad Nocturna," Drake replied. "And this isn't her first time competing in the Competition of Kingdoms." Nox raised a brow, intrigued. "Someone like that must be very experienced." "Yes, she is extremely experienced," Mira nodded, her eyes shining with fanaticism. "The first time she competed in the competition, she was just ten years old. Though she wasn't the captain, her performance was top-notch, solidifying her as one of the dragon realm's finest geniuses." "This year, she'll be turning twenty. Ever since her team lost to the Fire Dragons ten years ago, they say she has been training rigorously... and to top it off, before leaving the Shadow Kingdom, Nyxirith boldly declared that she would bring the title home."